Monday, August 17, 2015

Hello dear loved ones! I hope you all had a wonderful week! I feel like I
start these emails the same every single time... so sorry about that. I
will try to get more creative :)

Well, This week was tons of fun for us in Duvall! We were able to
do sooo much service around the community and just with individual
people as well. Every week, we go to do service at a local transitional
housing for women coming from abusive situations called Acres of
Diamonds. Usually it is just use missionaries, and we sort, clean, and
pretty much do whatever needs to be done. But this week, about 10
minutes after we started, another girl joined us, who just happens to be
one of the struggling youth we are trying to work with in the ward!!
She came in and we were able to have tons of fun as we sorted donations
together, and really start to build a relationship with her. It was
definitely a tender mercy from the Lord :)

We also had an appointment with a former investigator who has been
meeting with the missionaries for YEARS and is best friends with a lot
of the members. The only catch is that she never wants to act on the
message to find out if it is true. Frustrating. But anyways, so we got
to go and see her this week, and as soon as she opened the door, she was
like "I thought it would be a good idea for us to make duck tacos
together to get to know each other!!" ummm what?! haha so we ended up
making the weirdest tacos of my ENTIRE life. The Spanish Branch may
disown me if they ever find out :) haha but yes, they were DUCK tacos
with CHERRY salsa and cucumbers in them. It was soooo weird. Not awful. I
have definitely had worse. However, I would probably never call them
tacos again.... cause it just seems wrong.

We were also able to find FOUR NEW INVESTIGATORS this week!!! It
was so cool! Duvall is one of the hardest areas to find new
investigators because of how small it is. Pretty much EVERYONE has met
the missionaries before, EVERYONE has their own church and they are
"content," and EVERYONE has a friend who is a member, so why would they
talk to us when they can just give their friend a call? It is just
awesome. BUT the Lord has us here for a reason, and this week we were
definitely blessed! Dont get me wrong, I LOVE it here a lot :) but there
are some days where it is definitely a refiners fire :)

Sunday ended on kind of a sad note, when we went to go and visit
one of our investigators, John. When he opened the door, all he said was
that Michelle (his girlfriend) just barely found out that her father
had passed away. he quickly ushered us in and asked us to help comfort
her because he really had no clue what to do. So we spent our Sunday
evening trying to comfort a woman who, minutes earlier, had received
news that her father had unexpectedly passed away. It was so
heartbreaking to sit by her side and just focus on helping her breathe.
it ended up being a long night, and we were able to help her get to the
point where she could eat something. But as we left her with a prayer, I
was so grateful for the knowledge that I have of the Plan of Salvation.
I know that there is more after this life. I know that because the
priesthood was restored through Joseph Smith, I am sealed to my family
and I need not worry about what lies ahead because we can always be
together. That is so comforting to me,and I am truly so grateful to have
that assurance in my life. That is why I am a missionary. That is why
this message is important to everyone.

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all of the love and
support I get. I may be horrible at replying to emails and letters, but
really I appreciate it so very much. I pray that as we all go forward
this week, that we may be able to spend time with those who we love.
Don't ever be afraid to tell someone that you love them, never hesitate
to give someone a hug. This life is so precious, but it is not the end
either. God intends for us to ETERNALLY happy with those who we love as
we strive our best to be worthy of those promises.

About Me

Hi there, my name is Sierra Brooks. I have been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Seattle Washington. I will be teaching the gospel in the Spanish language. I am so excited for this amazing opportunity, and I am excited to share my experiences with all of you!! The Church is true! For more information please visit www.mormon.org